


Choices Made

by mcmachine



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: Exes, F/M, Pregnant, divorced
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-13
Updated: 2018-01-13
Packaged: 2019-03-04 03:51:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13355898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcmachine/pseuds/mcmachine
Summary: Post-Japril the Sequel, freshly divorced April runs into a familiar face that has her questioning the breakup that she's just gone through and how she really feels about her ex-husband.





	Choices Made

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr a while ago, long before the rumors about Matthew coming back in season 14 occurred. Hopefully, the outcome there will be the same as this one...

Ten weeks pregnant and one week divorced, April had been throwing herself into her work as much as she possibly could. The concerned glances from Arizona were ever present, as well as the questions about when exactly she was going to tell Jackson about the growing life. But her E.R. was her sanctuary, and she needed as much as she could get. She needed something good and tangible to hold onto. This baby was that, but she had to keep quiet for just a little bit longer, allow a little more peace to settle into their lives.

Things had seemed to cool off for the night, clock showing just short of two in the morning. Signing off on her charts, the trauma surgeon paused to use the bathroom, turning too quickly and nearly colliding into someone.

“Sorry ma’am, I–”

“Matthew?”

A long, tense pause followed as they each took a step back from each other to put in the appropriate distance. Oh. The thought ran through both of their minds simultaneously as they realized that neither of them really knew what to say. They hadn’t seen each other since she’d run out of the barn holding hands with Jackson, leaving her bridesmaids to clean up the mess that she and her now ex-husband had left behind.

“Yeah, I heard…”

“I didn’t know you were working here again.” April interrupts before he could get the rest of the thought out, taking a deep breath. Years had passed, and he still looked pretty much the same, hair a little shorter and scruff softening the edges his jawline. She couldn’t help the curiosity when she glanced down at his hands, seeking out a wedding ring to see if he’d finally gotten the happiness that he deserved, and disappointed not to see one. Even if she’d ran off, there’d never been a doubt that Matthew was a good guy. He was. It was pretty simple. He deserved a wife and kids, a family, even if it wasn’t with her.

She deserved the things too, she knew. But they'd never been the right fit. They'd been too perfect for each other, the kind of relationship that seemed great at the beginning, but the romance would have lasted. It would have fizzled out, no doubt turning them into the kind of people who were stuck together for their children and ultimately unsatisfied with their relationship.

The damn near opposite of what she'd had with Jackson. She didn't deserve either. She deserved better.

“I’m not, really. Just a one time thing.” Matthew answered, clearing his throat as he looked over her. He’d heard that they were divorced from other paramedics, told as if it was going to be a relief. It wasn’t, really, even seeing her finger bare of a wedding ring. Her failure didn't make what had happened any better.

April nods her head, shifting her weight between her feet and trying to figure out what to say next. It seemed inappropriate to excuse herself to use the bathroom like she’d wanted to, but she couldn’t figure out whether or not she needed to apologize now.

“I heard you got divorced.”

His statement was blunt, and April couldn’t help that her eyebrows shot up in surprise, even if it was the truth. Still, she hadn’t expected that…

“Uh, yeah, I– I did, yeah.” April stuttered through her answer, nodding her head and forcing a smile as she continued to look up at Matthew. The next question that left his mouth, however, was the one that threw a real curveball at her.

“Do you ever regret it? Choosing him?” Matthew asked quietly, brow furrowed.

Do I?

The question echoed through April’s head with more validity than what she would have expected. Taking a deep breath, her mouth parted, almost at a loss for words. How could she? Even if their marriage had ended in a painful signature on divorce papers, that wasn’t it. The final chapter didn’t define the whole book. They’d be happy. Really happy. Unbearably sad, too, at times, but it was wrong to define their entire marriage by the lows. She knew that. If it weren’t for their failed marriage, she would have never gotten the chance for a new life that was growing inside of her. And she was certain that she could not regret that.

“No. I don’t.” Even if the words are no doubt not what the paramedic wants to hear, the smile across April’s lips is sympathetic. “I’ll always choose Jackson, even if he doesn’t choose me."

Not the answer that either of them expected.


End file.
